


We Will Find Our Way Along

by comicfanperson



Series: JNPR and friends [12]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Baking, Comfort, Cookies, Cooking, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff Defense Force, Gen, Multi, Nightmares, Oscar Pine Needs a Hug, Panic Attacks, Polyamorous Jaune Arc/Lie Ren/Pyrrha Nikos/Nora Valkyrie, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:47:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23174161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comicfanperson/pseuds/comicfanperson
Summary: After a stressful nightmare, Oscar resorts to an old method of comfort to calm himself down.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna & Ruby Rose & Weiss Schnee & Yang Xiao Long, Jaune Arc & Pyrrha Nikos & Oscar Pine & Lie Ren & Nora Valkyrie, Jaune Arc/Lie Ren/Pyrrha Nikos/Nora Valkyrie, Oscar Pine & Lie Ren, Ozpin & Oscar Pine
Series: JNPR and friends [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1632898
Comments: 14
Kudos: 82





	We Will Find Our Way Along

**Author's Note:**

> i really wanted to get out something short and sweet to help occupy your minds during this time of crisis. it was really fun writing this, and @albion-93(tumblr)/Albion_93(Ao3) definitely had some more fantastic edits to make to this one! im super grateful for all his help <3
> 
> if you're the type to read tags, you may have noticed i used the tag 'Fluff Defense Force.' its a new movement to create some fluff to help battle all the bad feelings happening right now. so if your a writer, pls use this tag so people can find that comfort!!!

Oscar awoke with a start, his breathing heavy and mind racing, the last traces of yet another horrifically graphic nightmare ebbing away. He shuddered, a few loose tears slipping down his cheeks. The teen drew his legs close to his chest and gripped the weighted blanket he got a few weeks ago tightly in his hands, comforted by the sentiment behind the gift and the softness of the blanket itself. He rested his cheek against his knees and took a few deep, stuttering breaths, trying to calm himself down.

The thing that Oscar was most aware of at this moment was that Ozpin was still asleep. Which meant this nightmare belonged to him and  _ not  _ the old wizard, as things usually went. 

It made Oscar’s heart feel unbearably heavy in his chest, deepset anxiety causing him to start seriously crying. If Oz were awake, he would tell Oscar to go and get into bed with JNPR, and Oscar would argue reluctantly for a couple minutes before actually doing it. But Oz wasn’t awake, and the teen was left with his own thoughts and worries. 

What if they saw him as needy? 

What if they thought he was annoying?

What if they decided his mistakes were too much and they didn’t  _ want  _ him anymore?

He whimpered softly to himself, and rubbed roughly at the tears that just couldn’t seem to go away. Oscar felt useless, these nightmares had been plaguing him for months without any good explanation, and they didn’t seem to be getting better at all. If he kept bothering JNPR over some bad dreams, then they would, without a doubt, get tired of him, get tired of taking  _ care  _ of him. He wasn’t a child anymore! He shouldn’t need to be comforted like one!

Yet… here they were. Oscar, crying alone in his bedroom that was illuminated by a gods forsaken  _ nightlight,  _ too scared to go to his teammates right down the hall, who had said they wouldn’t mind if he woke them up for this kind of thing.  _ How  _ did he manage to be so… so dense? So scared of all these little things? 

He rubbed his hands up and down along his legs, the texture of the blankets helping to soothe his nerves, but it wasn’t quite enough. He wanted a hug. He wanted to be comforted, despite how it made him feel weaker than the others, more needy than the others. Oscar pushed the blanket off himself and stumbled to his bathroom, gasping for air like he was fish out of water. 

He couldn’t _ breathe- _

Couldn’t _ think- _

His hands gripped the edge of the sink, and it felt like it only took seconds for him to get there, braced over it, staring into his reflection’s eyes, mouth agape as he tried to force air into his lungs. A high-pitched gasp left his throat, and he cursed himself for being so useless, so stupid, so  _ needy- _

It seemed the second he squeezed his eyes shut he was being pulled into someone’s arms, his head secured against a shoulder by a strong, soothing hand. Oscar gasped as another arm was snaked across his waist, and while they were still standing up it was almost like being held and cradled. 

“Shh, Oscar,” Ren whispered as he gently allayed him, “I’m here, it’s alright now.”

With Ren’s voice, calm and peaceful and tender, Oscar felt a bit of that weight in his chest be alleviated. 

“R-Ren-” he whispered, and the Huntsman just pulled him closer.

“Breathe, Oscar, just breathe,” Ren instructed softly, stroking the side of Oscar’s face to calm him.

Oscar sucked in a deep breath, held it for several seconds, and then pushed it out for even more, just like Nora had taught him. But he couldn’t stop thinking about how Ren had to take care of him now, he’d worried his friend and now the Huntsman was being forced to calm him down like he was a worthless child. On the next inhale, he was simply so shaky and upset that he just couldn’t do it, and broke down in full blown sobs as he clutched at Ren tightly. 

“I-I  _ can’t, _ ” he gasped out, “Ren I-I  _ can’t.” _

“Yes you can, Oscar,” Ren steadily urged him, “Don’t think about anything other than breathing, count in your head, do not think about  _ anything else.”  _

Oscar sobbed out loud but followed his instructions, he forced the thoughts of not being enough out of his mind and simply thought of counting through his breathing. 

Inhale,  _ 1 2 3 4- _

Hold,  _ 1 2 3 4 5 6- _

Release,  _ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8- _

He felt lightheaded, and his chest still ached, but he didn’t stop the inner mantra of breathing and counting.

_ Very good, Oscar, _ Ozpin suddenly said, with just a hint of grogginess from having just woken up, and the teen was so used to him that it didn’t disrupt what he'd been focused on in any way. He just kept breathing. 

After a few more minutes of this exercise, he sagged against Ren, worn out and still tearful, but relaxed and breathing at least. Ren rested his cheek on the young teen’s head, and held him as tightly as he could without giving him any unintended discomfort. These night traumas Oscar was suffering from had terrified Ren; the young man wouldn’t have even realized his friend was having a panic attack if it wasn’t for the fact he was already awake. That was arguably the scariest part of this whole situation. Ren had thought maybe things had been getting better, that they’d made huge strides in how Oscar viewed himself, and that his mental health had been improving ever since… Well…seeing him fall back into such a self-harming pattern was painful to say the least...

Ren sighed heavily. He shook that particular thought from his mind and guided Oscar out of the bathroom, making a last minute decision to take his youngest teammate downstairs. It was slow going, but Ren thought it was better that way. It was almost surreal doing this, the darkness of the house and stillness of everything around them making Ren feel safer in the situation. 

He decided it would be best for them to sit down together, he made Oscar a glass of water and decided they would wait for the worst of the aftershocks to pass. The plan was for him to encourage Oscar to get in bed with the rest of the team so that he could remain calm in their gentle embrace and manage to sleep for the rest of the night. Nora in particular always liked it when he cuddled up with them.

Except that the plan went rather… sideways.

Him and Oscar had been sitting together on the couch for maybe ten minutes, the two curled up so that Oscar was being held close to Ren’s chest. The silence was comforting and warm, and paired with the soft plushness of the couch, Ren was certain they could've fallen asleep like that. While the crick in his neck would’ve been awful in the morning, it didn’t matter so long as Oscar could finally get some decent sleep. 

Just as he thought they were both drifting off, Oscar spoke up in a soft, nervous voice that Ren hadn’t heard since he first met the teen. 

“Ren? Could we… Could we bake some cookies?” 

Ren’s heart melted in his chest at that, “Right now?”   
  
Oscar gave him a slight but earnest nod, “If it's not too much trouble…” 

“Of course not, Oscar,” Ren said gently, and smiled at Oscar as he left his lap slowly but eagerly.

They walked into the kitchen, Ren flipping on the light switch and Oscar opening the recipe book and flipping it to the chocolate chip cookie recipe. The Huntsman walked over to the counter where Oscar stood, and leaned over his shoulder to see the recipe. 

“Are you sure this is the one you want?” Ren asked him with an amused smirk.

“Yeah,” Oscar blushed and rubbed his neck a little, “I was thinking we could take them to Team RWBY later today… Ya know, since they like them so much? Plus Ruby’s got a real sweet tooth, so…”

Ren couldn’t help but ruffle Oscar’s hair, “That’s very kind of you, Oscar. Come on, let’s get to work so we can give Nora, Jaune, and Pyrrha an extra surprise when they wake up.”

Oscar beamed and gave Ren another hug before going to grab the cold ingredients, while Ren then went to gather the shelf ingredients. They began to measure out the dry ingredients into a bowl, Ren showing Oscar the proper way to measure flour, and then they mixed together the wet ingredients just how the recipe instructed. Ren teased Oscar every now again, being sure to pat the teen’s shoulder or ruffle his hair so that the fondness never waned. 

One time after handling the flour, he ruffled Oscar’s hair and got the white powdery flour all over his head, and the two had to stifle themselves not to wake up Jaune, Nora and Pyrrha with laughter. When it finally came time to pour the chocolate chips into the dough, Oscar gave Ren a curious look when he pulled out a clean measuring cup.

“You’re measuring out the chocolate chips?”

“Well, a recipe is a recipe for a reason,” Ren explained, filling the measuring cup.

“Okay, but it’s so much better when you just eyeball it,” Oscar said mischievously.

Ren went still and looked at Oscar with a raised eyebrow, “And why is that?”

Oscar gave an excited grin, “Because then you can choose how many chocolate chips you want, and the cookies can be chock full of them!” he seemed to nervously deflate after that, “My, uh, my aunt and I always used to make them that way… She always said that was half the fun of chocolate chips cookies.” 

The look on Oscar’s face and the tremble in his voice unknowingly pulled on Ren’s heart strings, he brushed Oscar’s bangs out of his face and made sure the young teen was looking him straight in the eye, “Oscar, we can make these cookies however you like. They are just cookies after all, they can be redone if need be.”

“Thanks, Ren,” Oscar murmured, and then suddenly attacked him in a giant hug.

Ren made an ‘oof’ sound, surprised by it, but nevertheless he quickly returned the hug, squeezing their little farm boy tightly as if that was all it would take for him to become all better. Once Oscar pulled away, Ren watched amusedly as he took the comically large bag of chocolate chips and began pouring them into the big bowl of cookie dough. 

Oscar inspected the ratio of chips to dough and tapped his finger on his thumb, and added some more before he seemed satisfied. 

“Do you think they’ll be chocolatey enough?” Ren nudged him.

Oscar chuckled softly, “Just enough, I think.” 

They used the wooden spoon to evenly fold the chips into the dough, each taking turns until the cookie dough was sufficiently ready for the oven. They rolled the dough together into little balls, plopped it onto the baking sheets, and stuck the cookies in the oven. Ren peaked out the window from the kitchen and saw the sun was finally starting to come up, meaning Pyrrha would be up soon too.    
  


Ren watched Oscar make his morning cup of hot cocoa and lean back on the couch, taking in the sweet chocolatey aroma. The older Huntsman decided to follow suit as there was still ten minutes left on the oven. He sat beside his young friend, and allowed him to cuddle up close so they could enjoy the rest of the morning together. Ren could tell Oscar was still shaky from the panic attack, and he desperately wished there was a way they would automatically wake up when Oscar did so they could comfort him from whatever his mind managed to conjure up.

For the time being though, Ren was happy to be there for Oscar however he could. He clung to the hope that as time went on Oscar would trust him, and the rest of the team, more and more to be supportive and helpful. Beyond that, as the boy found the confidence and personal drive to take himself forward into the rest of his life, it was a long and winding journey that he knew that he and his partners would stand by him through thick and thin.

He and Oscar stayed like that as long as they could, quiet and comforted, as they watched the sun come up and fill the sky with light. 

“Thanks, Ren,” Oscar suddenly murmured, still a tinge of fear in his voice.. 

The older Huntsman just smiled and squeezed Oscar in his arms, “You’re our family, Oscar. We are all here for you.”

The timer for the oven dinged at the same moment Pyrrha came down the stairs, a sleepy but interested smile on her face when Oscar hopped up off the couch to hurry and pull the sheet of cookies out of the oven. 

Ren looked over his shoulder to watch Oscar, wearing a concerned look, “Be careful not to burn yourself.”

Oscar rolled his eyes fondly as he put on the oven mitts, “I’m pretty sure this isn’t my first time dealing with an oven.”

“Alright,” Ren sighed, awkwardly scratching the back of his head, “Fair point.”

“So that’s what was smelling so good,” Pyrrha finally said, raising one eyebrow and her arms crossed over her chest.

Ren looked like he was going to turn white, but Oscar gave her a giant smile as he pulled the pan out of the oven, the cookies making quite a tantalizing sight, “Yup!”

“You two better save some for me,” she said, grabbing her yoga mat from the basket and heading out to the back porch, “I won’t be long!”

“Okay,” Ren and Oscar said simultaneously. They shared startled but amused looks with each other, and Ren got back up to help Oscar take the cookies off the pan and put a new batch in the oven. 

They repeated this once more before Pyrrha came back in from her yoga and Jaune stumbled sleepily down the stairs, Nora at his heels. 

“COOKIES?!” she screeched excitedly when she realized what Oscar and Ren had been up to. 

Oscar turned red, “Uh, yeah, I suddenly had the urge to, and well…” 

“This is great, Oscar,” Jaune said, ruffling the teen’s hair as he walked over to his usual seat at the kitchen table. 

“Ren helped too!” Oscar added quickly, “It was a lot of fun.”

Ren smiled softly, and took a cooled cookie off the sheet of wax paper they’d laid out to set the cookies on, “I definitely think adding the extra chocolate chips was a great idea, Oscar. We may have to do that more often.”

Nora comically shoved three cookies into her mouth at once, and gave her muffled agreement along with two thumbs up. 

“You two must have been up pretty early to get all this done,” Jaune observed, “What’s the occasion?”

Oscar gave Ren a panicked look, and it wasn’t hard for him to figure out that the farm boy didn’t want the others to know about the nightmare.

“We were both up early,” Ren shrugged, and the other three glanced at each other and realized that would be the only answer they’d get.

Oscar looked relieved, “And I thought maybe Team RWBY would enjoy some of these too, since Ruby’s quite the cookie fiend, after all.”

“Aww!” Nora cried and gave him yet another tight hug, “You’re so thoughtful!”

“Anything for good friends,” he blushed, returning the hug. 

“C’mon,” Ren said, nudging Oscar’s shoulder once he was released from Nora’s embrace, “Let’s get these wrapped up.” 

Once all the cookies had been put into containers, breakfast made and eaten, and the kitchen completely cleaned up, Team JNPOR made their way down the street to where Team RWBY lived. Nora skipped the whole way, singing and swinging Oscar’s hand in her own, while Ren carried the basket of cookies and walked between Pyrrha and Jaune. The walk was nice, calming, even if it could hardly be counted as a walk at all. The group enjoyed the warm spring day, with all the flowers in bloom and the sun shining down brightly, it was easy to enjoy the simplicity of being together. 

When they made it to RWBY’s house, they saw Ruby and Weiss in the front yard playing with Zwei, while Blake was weeding the flowerbeds and Yang was swinging from a rope in the big oak tree. 

“Oscar! Nora!” Ruby called as soon as she saw them, sprinting over to them and wrapping the two up in a big hug. She perked up even more upon seeing the others had come too, “Hi guys!”

“Hello, Ruby,” Pyrrha greeted pleasantly. 

“What brings you all over here?” Weiss asked after greetings had been shared from everyone.

Oscar grinned, “Ren and I made cookies this morning, I thought you guys would like some.”

Ruby gasped happily, “COOKIES?!” 

Ren handed her the basket, laughing softly to himself as she snatched it out of his hands and lifted the lid to reveal the treat, “THEY LOOK SO GOOD!”

“They are,” Nora promised, looking rather proud of her boyfriend and farm boy. 

“Thank youuuu!” she squealed, giving Oscar another hug and then giving an equally as big one to Ren.

“Oh, yeah, of course,” Oscar said through his embarrassment. 

“We hope you enjoy them,” Ren added.

“Why don’t you all come in?” Weiss offered, “We can chat and catch up some, it feels like forever since we just hung out.”

“That sounds lovely!” Pyrrha said, resting a hand on Weiss’s shoulder as the smaller girl led them inside, Yang and Blake following suit.

As the two Teams laughed and shared each other's company, the chaos of that morning melted from Oscar’s mind. It was so good to be in the presence of those who he knew cared about him, even if there had been a rocky start. When yet another laugh bubbled out of him at Nora and Yang's antics he knew deep in his heart that everything was fine, and it would stay that way so long as they trusted each other.


End file.
